PAUL KRUGMAN: The Deficit Is Basically Solved Walter HickeyJan. 10, 2013, 4:00 PMMany people think that fixing the deficit is a painful process that involves deep cuts to crucial programs. Some think the process is too hard, and it's not worth trying yet. That's not correct, according to a chart from from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' Richard Kogan showing just how far the United States has come in the past two years. We've talked before about how the painless and most effective solution to the deficit is additional growth in GDP. As the recovery progresses and GDP...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled new mortgage rules Thursday that are expected to change how home buyers go about getting approved for a home loan. Every company that issues mortgages will be required to follow the new guidelines. Loans that meet the agency’s new lending criteria now will be called a “qualified mortgage.” Qualified mortgages will be given protection for the bank from lawsuits filed by troubled borrowers or buyers of mortgage-backed bonds. A “qualified mortgage” will consist of the following: • Lenders must prove that income and assets are sufficient to repay the loan (this applies to jumbo...

When we talk about “economic freedom,” what do we mean—and why does it matter? Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property. In an economically free society, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please, with that freedom both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state. Since reaching a global peak in 2008, sadly, economic freedom around the world has continued to stagnate. Today launches the 19th edition of the Index of Economic Freedom, produced by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall...

Economic Collapse! A Leading Indicator Of Better Times To Come Economics / Global EconomyJan 10, 2013 - 04:00 AM By: Darryl R Schoon It’s going to get better; but, first, it’s going to get worse Time of the Vulture, 3rd ed. 2012 When I presented Time of The Vulture: How to Survive the Crisis and Prosper in the Process to the Positive Deviant Network in March 2007, the economic collapse hadn’t yet happened. The next year, it did. At the time, I suggested those in attendance shed debt, sell their homes and buy gold. Then, the US real estate market...

DOUG KASS: Stocks Will Hit Their High For The Year By The End Of This Week Matthew BoeslerJanuary 9, 2013Legendary investor Doug Kass of Seabreeze Partners thinks that by the end of this week, investors will see the top in the S&P 500 for the rest of the year. In his "15 Surprises for 2013," published today on TheStreet.com, Kass writes: Once again, the bullish consensus is tightly grouped with the expectation that the S&P 500 will close the year at 1550-1615 (up from 1425 at the close of 2012) and that the 10 year U.S. note yield will trade...

The Fed disguised In 1913 Congress abdicated its Constitutional responsibility over currency on behalf of the people when it created the monster called The Federal Reserve System. In creating a private joint stock entity, Congress not only surrendered jurisdiction over the dollar, it also relinquished control, oversight, and authority over the institution intended to manage the citizens’ currency. Decisions hastily made in environments of illiteracy, panic, and fear, and driven by energies with ulterior motives, rarely turn out well for those who succumb. Section 2A of The Fed’s Monetary Policy Objectives states, "The Board of Governors of the Federal...

<p>Having completed yet another deficit-reduction agreement that somehow managed to increase the deficit, Congress and the Obama administration are now laying the groundwork for upcoming fights over the debt ceiling, the sequester, and the continuing resolution that will fund the government given continued refusal by Senate Democrats to pass a budget.</p>

Zombie Nation Bill Bonner 01/07/13 Creating and sustaining a nation of zombies is expensive. Large sections of the US population have been turned into zombies. Retirees. Medicare dependents. Food stamp recipients. Disabled people. They are not necessarily bad people. They are not necessarily dishonest or lazy. But rather than add to wealth, they consume it. And when you have too many of them, your society consumes more wealth than it produces and you are on the road to The Downside. But the feds are not only creating individual zombies, they are also creating corporate zombies. An obvious example: “green” energy....

The Path To $20,000 Gold Dan Amoss 01/08/13 The global monetary system rests on a fragile foundation of trust. Thanks to the actions of central banks, pressure on the system will keep growing. Paper U.S. dollars sit at the heart of the global monetary system. Dollars are liabilities of the Federal Reserve. Just as houses are collateral for mortgages, Treasuries and mortgage bonds are collateral for U.S. dollars. A central bank’s balance sheet is essentially a self-reinforcing feedback loop: Government bonds are the collateral for dollar liabilities, and bonds are streams of future dollar payments. So the dollar is backed...

American leaders bring to mind the last Abbasid Caliph, who made no preparations for the approach of the Mongols in 1258. What, asked al-Musta'sim Billah, could Mongol arrows do to the walls of Baghdad? When the Mongol commander Hulagu Khan arrived on January 29, though, he had with him 1,000 Chinese bombardiers, as well as Persian, Turkish and Georgian auxiliaries. Historians disagree as to whether the Mongols used cannon or counterweighted catapults, but in any case the bombardment breached the city's walls within three weeks, and they proceeded to slaughter between 200,000 and a million of its inhabitants. There are...

ART CASHIN: Forget The Debt Ceiling — Traders Are Buzzing About The Gigantic Asteroid Barreling Towards Earth Sam RoJan. 8, 2013, 8:46 AMWith no major economic, earnings, or political news, yesterday turned into one of the most boring trading days in a very long time. According to UBS's Art Cashin, this gave the New York Stock Exchange floor traders time to chat about various things. One of those things: the gigantic asteroid heading toward earth. From this morning's Cashin's Comments: And You Thought The Debt Ceiling Was All You Had To Worry About – Trading was slow enough yesterday that...

NEW DELHI—India has proposed sweeping curbs on the import of technology products ranging from laptops to Wi-Fi devices to computer-network equipment. The proposed regulations, which were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, would create an expansive "Buy India" mandate requiring a large percentage of the high-tech goods sold in the country to be manufactured locally. If implemented, the rules could wreak havoc on the business plans of a wide range of U.S. and other foreign firms, including hardware-makers Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO and Dell DELL Inc.; services companies such as International Business Machines IBM Corp.; and telecom-gear suppliers such as...

Exclusive: Jerry Robinson says 2013 could be 'devastating' Is America on the eve of another civil war? That question is being raised by economist, columnist, radio host and international conference speaker Jerry Robinson on his “Follow the Money Weekly.” He also talks about eight money tips for achieving financial security in 2013. But in a commentary on his podcast, he notes the situation facing Americans. “While I expect to have a very profitable year with my investments and businesses, I can’t seem to shake this nagging suspicion that 2013 may also be one of the most devastating years in American...

If we reach the following highly unpleasant conclusion, what are the implications? The United States has taken a political turn which, at least for the next four years, will guarantee that it does not play the role of a great power mindful of and willing to protect its own true interests, to support its allies, and to combat its real foes. On the contrary, through inaction or active effort the leadership of America will take counterproductive actions that achieve the opposite result. And there are certain factors — radical ideological hegemony, a weak economy and growing debt, structural social changes,...

ART CASHIN: Veteran Traders Have Noticed A Peculiar Pattern During The Final Hours Of Trading Sam RoJan. 7, 2013, 11:11 AM Stocks have started 2013 on a positive note, closing at a five-year high on Friday. So, are people feeling bullish? Art Cashin, UBS Financial Services Director of Floor Operations, is a tad skeptical. He points to some imbalances during end-of-day trading in this morning's "Cashin's Comments": Some On-Close Support For the “New Money” Thesis – As we have noted repeatedly during this New Year’s rally, several of us old fogeys believe most of the fuel for the move...

France’s Esther Duflo, a star economist who was once named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, has been nominated by US President Barack Obama to help shape US global development policy. France’s Esther Duflo, a world renowned economist, has been nominated by US President Barack Obama to join a government body dedicated to advising the administration on global development policy. Duflo, who was raised in a “left-leaning Protestant” family, said she became aware of economic divides and social injustice at a very early age.

So the Americans did it. They avoided the fiscal cliff – right at the 11th hour, much as many of us suspected they would. Not that America’s travails are over. Quite the opposite. The fiscal problem has been merely deferred, not cured. Meanwhile, even given Congressional agreement on immediate fiscal issues, the pace of economic recovery is set to be modest. Yet even this is better than the outlook for the eurozone, where the economy is likely to languish, if not to contract further. Why do the US and the eurozone present such different economic prospects? One possible answer is...

JPMORGAN: The US Recovery Is About To Hit A Pothole Walter Kurtz, Sober LookJan. 6, 2013, 8:43 AM As discussed earlier (see post), US manufacturing sector has begun to recover. Manufacturing orders in the US as well as in Emerging Asia (see post) have diverged from other large economies. This trend is becoming reflected in the broader economic activity. However according to JPMorgan, the result of the latest fiscal negotiations will soon create headwinds for this expansion and dampen GDP growth. The tax increases on higher income households as well as the hike in payroll taxes will crate a drag...